In a feat that calls to mind the memory-tweaking technology in the film "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," a team of researchers restored "lost memories" in the brains of mice. The mice in the study were given a drug that prevented them from consolidating a fearful memory. But when neurons involved in encoding the memory were stimulated with pulses of light, the animals were able to retrieve the forgotten recollection. In some forms of amnesia, past memories may not be erased, but may just be inaccessible for recall, said Susumu Tonegawa, director of the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Japan and co-author of the study, said in a statement. If the findings are confirmed in humans, the knowledge could benefit people who suffer from retrograde amnesia, an inability to recall memories that were made before the amnesia, which is common in traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer's disease and other brain disorders. Scientists have long debated whether retrograde ...
Comments